


the world can't hurt you any longer

by orphan_account



Series: i don't care that they say "pain makes you stronger" [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Marquis de Lafayette, Sad, but it's also really sweet, comatose!laf, don't worry it's a happy fic, it's adorable, laffy is comatose and it's a bit sad, they wake up and herc is there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 10:06:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10357950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Laf's been asleep for a while, but maybe, just maybe, one day, they'll wake up.





	

"Hey, Laf."

The voice was clear, warm, undoubtably familiar. It made them feel at ease, made them forget anything bad on their mind like it always did.

The voice continued. "Sorry I didn't drop in yesterday, some jerks were being rude to Peggy and Dolley apparently so John beat them up and I had to patch up his knuckles again. I'm not as good at it as you are, but someone had to do it, I guess. Not that he won't go around punching dickheads anyway, but at least he won't hurt himself as bad while doing it," the voice laughed a little, even if it sounded less like a laugh and more like a sob.

"It feels strange talking to you now. Almost like I'm just talking to myself. But I know you're listening. I mean, at least I hope so. You don't have to listen to me, I ramble too much for my own good, like you always say." Laf wanted to smile, wanted to open their eyes and take the warm voice by the hand and tell them that _god, I could listen to you talk for hours upon end, I would never tire of listening._ But they couldn't. There was nothing they could do.

They summoned all the energy they could find and at least attempted to smile, and even though they were pretty sure the corner of their mouth just twitched upwards, it seemed to be enough for the warm voice. They heard them laugh in disbelief. "So you can hear me. I mean, I hope. But that hope just got tripled. Oh my god, John and Herc will be happy. I mean, you're in a coma and I made you smile, I guess I'm worth something after all."

Laf almost frowned. A coma. That.. as terrible as it sounded, it made sense.

But as logical as it was, it was also extremely inconvenient. Laf wanted to be there for the voice, tell them how they're worth the whole universe, stars and galaxies and planets and all. How they're beautiful and needed and how they've been keeping Laf hopeful for however long they've been in this state.

But they couldn't. _There was nothing they could do._

\---

"Hey, Laf."

The voice was kind, soft, soothing. They couldn't put a name to it - they hardly ever could these days, but they knew that the voice was someone close to them. Someone who wouldn't hurt them.

They heard them sit down by their bedside. "My knuckles are finally okay again. Alex did a good job on them. Still won't match up to you, but he's alright. I lean on him more than I'd care to admit." They took Laf's hand, brushed over their fingers with a feather light touch.

"I hope you've been doing okay. The nurses said you haven't shown much progress - whatever the hell that means, honestly, they make it sound like you're a first grader with a disability or something, but Alex told them about how you smiled at him last Saturday and they said that's really good, that if you keep trying, you'll come out of this. And I know you will. You're strong, unbelievably so. You're just taking your time, and I get that." The voice sounded hopeful. Sounded less desperate than the clear voice. They sounded sure, confident, like they just knew that Laf would wake up and that was a fact, not a hope.

It made Laf smile. Desperate or not, they loved all of them just as much, the clear voice and the kind voice and the gentle voice, the one who hadn't visited for a bit. Laf had come to the conclusion that the voices took turns. And Laf was okay with that. 

Talking about something and sounding a bit out of focus (or maybe Laf was just zoned out. It happened back when they were awake, it happened now), the voice squeezed Laf's hand, grounding them like they always used to. And automatically, Laf squeezed back.

The voice almost shied away in surprise, but soon regathered themself and Laf could swear they heard the voice grin. "Like we always used to do, huh?" They chuckled. "You won't believe how comforting this is right now, knowing you're here with me. I know it's only a matter of time. I know. And you know I don't like to rush you, but that grip was pretty strong. And Laf, if you can really already smile at Alex and hold my hand, I guarantee that waking up is almost in your reach. All you have to do is try."

\---

"Hey, Laf."

The voice was deep, sweet, gentle.. They almost had their name at the tip of their tongue, they just couldn't find that one missing puzzle piece to remind themself.

"You're almost there, aren't you?" _Yes, yes,_ Laf wanted to tell them that so bad they would've screamed if it meant getting their point across. "We know you are. Even Alex doesn't doubt it anymore. But I figured you'd still appreciate someone to talk to while you sort things out, y'know?" Laf smiled - they knew nobody could actually see it, but they smiled anyway, even if it was really just in their head.

"We all still love you a lot, no matter when you wake up. John does, Alex does, I do. We all love you so much. Even if you can't be with us every day, we haven't forgot about you, and we never will. You matter. You're worthy. You're good. You're important, you're wanted, you're needed. I know you doubted all of that before, so I'm telling you now. If you wake up when we're not here, you can think about it, think about my words, if you remember them. I hope you do, but then again, I hope you don't have to wake up without us. If you don't want to. For now, it's all just encouragement, but that doesn't make anything I said less true. I hope you believe me." Laf wanted to see them, wanted to see the voice and kiss the daylights out of them. Laf knew they meant everything they said.

They must've known Laf well when they were still awake - hell, of course they still know them well, Laf isn't dead. 

Laf couldn't help it. They loved the voice to the moon and back, just as they did the two others. They damned themself for being confined to this bed, unable to move, talk, see, feel.

But maybe they weren't all that stuck after all.

Using the same method as they had before, they, once again, attempted to gather all the strength they could muster. _When I tried to smile, my mouth twitched. When I wanted to respond to the soft voice, I managed to grip their hand._

Suddenly, opening their eyes didn't seem like such a mammoth task anymore.

Laf tried. They felt their eyelids almost lift themselves, like there was only the tiniest amount of energy missing. Trying again, they were sure their eyelids flickered, like a match trying to keep itself lit in a hurricane. Even though they weren't sure if this was real or just in their head, they heard the sweet voice.

 _"Almost, Laf. Almost there."_ There was the slightest hint of hope and awe in their tone.

The third time they attempted with all of their might to open their eyes, they succeeded. 

Light blinded them, invading their sight and forcing their eyes shut again, but only for a moment. They blinked, then blinked again. Bit by bit, they felt their eyes get adjusted to the change in scenery. The darkness was gone. They saw the panes of the ceiling in whatever room they were in. A smile stretched over their face, something new yet so incredibly familiar.

"You made it."

The voice snapped Laf out of their daze. They needed to _see them needed to know their name I know them why can't I remember I need to see them._

As quickly as they could, Laf propped themself up on their elbows and snapped their head in the voice's direction. "Easy now," They-he- _him-Herc-Hercules._ Hercules was sitting next to them, _there_ and _real_ and beaming so bright Laf felt like they might go blind. "H-Herc. Hercules. You're the gentle voice."

Herc laughed and took one of Laf's hands in his own. "I'm the what, now?"

Laf smiled, smiled and breathed out, breathed back in, took in the feeling of seeing and moving and being able to feel real again. "I couldn't remember. So you were the gentle voice and there were two more, the warm voice and the kind voice, I don't- should I remember myself or should you tell me, I'm not sure what I'm meant to do-" "It's fine. Everything is okay. I'll tell you about everything, but for now, try and calm down. You just woke up. It'd be a shame if you fainted on me now out of all times," Hercules cut them off, tone firm, but ever so gentle as he was. Soothing Laf like nobody could, nobody except for him and John and Al- 

_and Alexander?_

"There's John, right? Tell me I haven't gone completely mad."

Hercules smiled and rubbed circles into Laf's palm, relaxing them as much as he could. "Yeah, you're right, you're not mad. John Laurens, he's one of your three flatmates, he has the curliest hair ever and you love to braid it and put little bows in it. He draws a lot. You model for him sometimes."

Memories were flooding his mind. "He gets into too many fights. He has a rainbow flag onesie. I used to patch up his knuckles every week."

Hercules' smile wasn't fading. "Very good."

"He's the kind voice, I'm sure of that, at the very least, the clear voice needs to be Alexander, then." "You're doing great. Alex. Yep. What comes to mind when you think about him?" 

Laf felt his brows furrow. "He's.. he's really, passionate, I think. He talks a lot, he has these.. stickers on his laptop, that we.. gave him, for his birthday, right?" Hercules nodded. "He.. Alexander.. he works too hard, too much, he can forget to take care of himself more often than not, and he.." Laf breathed out. "He's just as bad as me, sometimes. Just as afraid and alone and restless." Hercules' smile had a sad glint as he nodded again. 

"I'll go tell somebody that you're awake. Hopefully we'll be getting you out of here soon." 

Hercules kissed them on the forehead and looked at Laf with a fondness in his eyes that Laf knew well. 

They smiled. _I'm finally back._

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you enjoyed this!!!!  
> i'm thinking of making a sequel where laf gets home and is reunited with john and alex, and it would be just like the softest purest sweetest pile of fluff ya know  
> anyway please comment!!!! it makes my day so so so much seeing someone who genuinely liked what i wrote!!!!  
> so long!!


End file.
